A pseudonym (,
pseudo +
-onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a person's legal name. In most legal systems, a name assumed for a non-
fraudulent purpose is a legal name and usable as the person's true name, which is however preferred or required for various official purposes. The most common example is when a woman assumes her husband's surname without resorting to the formal statutory process (i.e. by petitioning a court; a few American states have a statutory provision for recording a new name at marriage.) Note that in some States only the given and surnames form the legal name; "a middle name or initial is not material in any legal proceeding". A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another actual person, usually historical, assumed by someone in authorship of a work of art; such as when
ghostwriting a book or play, or in
parody, or when using a front such as by
screenwriters blacklisted in
Hollywood in the
1950s,
1960s and
1970s. Someone who is pseudonymous is someone who is using a pseudonym. The opposite is
anthroponym, meaning a full
legal name or some recognisable shortened form of it such as Fred Smith for Frederick John Smith, with or without titles.
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(pl. )
of Alias